fuck me it's still fucking cold

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though I suppose that the upside of this sudden early winter chill is that I get to test out all sorts of heaters to keep myself from freezing in The Shed. And slippers (I have ugged). And shirt jackets (WalMart special FTW). And hats. Current heater combo of electric wall heater set to 60ºF (50º overnight instead of 45º) with an infared heater under my desk set to 68º (small fan heater wasn't enough) when I'm working has done the trick. Four extra solar panels would be nice, but as I mentioned in the last piece I wrote about this (two days ago – clearly this topic is at the forefront), AC Sun Gods operate on their own multiversal schedule and I anticipate them showing up at random odd times; nonetheless, I don't have to plug into the grid for very long in the evening and early morning and the battery stack is up to the task throughout the day. And it's also warmer than The Paintshop ever was, if I'm being honest with myself – though given my memory I can't be certain.

solar prioritization

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Winter has settled in but at least it's December now thus making it a little less ungodly though a little slower descent into it would've been nice. Alas, into the deep-end / through the ring of fire seems to be my usual way, and it's no different this year, learning the ins and outs of how to keep The Shed at least somewhat heated in its empty, sunless hours without draining my battery stack – though it has, somewhat, been easier the last couple days as there's finally, after a week of clouds, some sun to charge up the solar panels so I only have to plug into the grid once a day instead of (at least) twice.

(Still waiting on installation of four more panels but the Apple Creek Sun Gods bow to no schedule but their own: it’s “a week from now” on some universe, right?)

While I'm still considering closing off the vaulted ceiling for the season, I've settled on a solid all-around heater, a Dreo Electric wall heater that I've at 55-60 throughout (45 at night) that really does a nice job, even with the expanse of stained shiplap overhead. I keep a Dreo tower fan heater at my feet, the same one I used in The Paintshop, and it does make the floors a little less frigid.

But hey, if there's one thing the deep-end solar winter temperature exams have provided, it's project clarity: is what I'm going to work on worth working on in the comfy chill of The (winter) Shed? Whittled things down to three and a half projects from a nebulous six, the three point five (the half being AA Void cartoons) being those that give me the most creative pleasure and let me forget the extremities that are freezing off.

P.S. No newsletter today: there were things I wanted to do with it that I didn't get around to so I'm taking the month off and returning in January with a new form.

solaaaarrrr

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Hank and Aiden, the local sun gods, are at work: four panels are on the roof, the boxes are installed inside, big batteries unpacked, Derbz is going crazy with people in his backyard, and, by the end of the day, I'll have 12kw of renewable solar power surging through NuSanctum. Also nice: not only will NuSanctum be my studio, my escape across the yard, one in which my useless creative processings will no longer be wasted contributions to the climate apocalypse, but NS will (later this week) also function as a renewable backup generator for the house when the power goes out (read: I won't have to worry about my insulin stores going bad). If that wasn't enough, I anticipate being able to ward off vampires just by opening the doors. Win/win/win.

links/2023w06.1

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Splitting up the links posts into Wednesday and Saturday offerings. Should make each a little less unwieldy.